Cibo Matto announce first album in 15 years, share Dayglo video for new track ‘MFN’

Cibo Matto are best remembered for food-obsessed, anything-goes pop collages like the trip-hop inspired ‘Sugar Water’ and noise rap tune ‘Birthday Cake’; at one point, the band counted rock scion Sean Lennon among its members.

Bandleaders Miho Hatori and Yuka C. Honda will return with Hotel Valentine, an LP due out February 14 via Chimera Music. The self-produced concept album features guest spots from Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, Atoms for Peace’s Mauro Refosco and more.

“’Hotel Valentine’ was the first song we wrote together for this album. It thus represents the genesis of our concept or story, but in a way it seems that explaining too much would prevent listeners from coming to their own conclusions about each song as well as about the whole project,” says Honda via a press release. “Yes, there is a ghost girl, a hotel, housekeeping ladies and things happen. But they are elusive in nature.”

“Hotel Valentine is the cinematic bricolage of Yuka and me,” Hatori adds. “Our medium is music. For me, making an album is like raising a child. We don’t know what kind of person (story) they will end up to be.”